BIS Study Finds Centralization in Uniswap V3 Liquidity Pools

A November 2024 study by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has raised concerns about the decentralized nature of decentralized finance (DeFi), focusing on Uniswap V3, a leading decentralized exchange (DEX). 

The research analyzed the top 250 liquidity pools (LPs), which account for 96% of Uniswap V3’s trading volume, revealing insights into the roles of institutional and retail liquidity providers.

The study, led by Matteo Aquilina, Sean Foley, Leonardo Gambacorta, and William Krekel, reconstructed transaction-level data to explore the behavior of retail and institutional liquidity providers. This detailed analysis provides a clearer understanding of how liquidity is distributed and managed within the DeFi ecosystem.

The study revealed that a small group of “sophisticated agents” dominate a significant portion of Uniswap V3’s liquidity pools, controlling around 80% of the total value locked (TVL). These participants strategically focus on high-volume, low-volatility pools, leveraging advanced trading strategies and substantial capital to outperform retail investors.

Due to this disparity, retail participants face significant disadvantages, earning a smaller share of trading fees and experiencing lower overall returns. The research found that many retail investors often incur losses when adjusted for risk, with more than half of the sampled days resulting in negative returns for retail liquidity providers.

The BIS study highlights that economic dynamics, akin to those in traditional finance, are fostering centralization within the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. This trend challenges DeFi’s foundational promise of democratizing finance by providing equal opportunities for all participants.

Gordon Liao, Chief Economist at Circle and former Uniswap Labs researcher, challenged the BIS study’s findings, arguing it exaggerates the extent of centralization in DeFi.

He noted that while sophisticated traders control a larger share of TVL and fees, their fee earnings are only marginally higher—less than 15%—than those of less-sophisticated users, which doesn’t indicate a significant advantage.

Liao also compared DeFi favorably to traditional central limit order book (CLOB) markets, where liquidity is even more concentrated, and tick ranges are wider. While agreeing with some BIS findings, such as the limited impact of just-in-time (JIT) liquidity, he emphasized the need to improve default settings and vault utilization to enhance user experience and liquidity efficiency.

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